RedBlack Software is evolving its Cybake bakery management system with a cloud-based version. The launch was announced at the Foodex show at Birmingham’s NEC this week, where Bakeplan, produced by RedBlack sister company BakePlan Software, was declared winner of the event’s Great New Idea competition.

Cybake bakery management solutions supplier RedBlack Software has appointed Sandy Scott as chief executive officer. Scott, who has also invested in the company, has many year experience nurturing and growing software companies, said RedBlack.

RedBlack Software Ltd will continue its mission to serve the independent craft bakery sector with its market-leading range of Cybake bakery management solutions. BakePlan Software’s focus is on the retail grocery and convenience store sectors across Europe with its BakePlan production forecasting system for in-store bakeries.

Jane Tyler, managing director of both companies, explains that the corporate restructure was prompted by a fork in the development of their software solutions. This became apparent during a successful project to improve availability and reduce waste at M&S’ in-store bakeries throughout the UK and Ireland.

Jane Tyler says: “It became plain that the needs of the large modern retail grocer diverged considerably from that of RedBlack’s core craft bakery customers. We therefore decided to give our BakePlan supermarket solution a life of its own. As well as attracting interest from outside investors, BakePlan is already undergoing trials with potential new users in this sector.”

BakePlan tells in-store bakery staff the best combination of products to bake at the right times during the day via tablets or mobiles. Using advanced data analytics and machine learning, BakePlan adjusts its suggestions according to the day’s trading patterns. At the same time as increasing availability, the system cuts waste and increases bakery section sales.

Jane Tyler, who is also the vice chair of the British Society of Baking industry association, says that major grocery retailers have large, complex systems that do not always cater well for the very specific needs of bakery departments that have a bake-off operation.

She says: “We find that there is rarely any provision for multi-wave planning to support a little-and-often baking model nor any practical means of capturing information about what has actually been baked. BakePlan is an easy way grocers can tackle availability and freshness, which are big differentiators in consumers’ minds, at the same time as working towards their commitments to cutting food waste.”

With Cybake Inbound, bakers get their own online product list branded with their logo and livery. Bakery customers then access this online catalogue via any web-connected device (phone, tablet, PC) to place their orders.

Each wholesale customer sees their own easy-to-use customised product list that tells them what products they have on standing order, what they have ordered before, when they ordered it and more.

Online ordering saves bakers considerable amounts of time and money. Staff costs, phone bills and hours spent rectifying order errors are all reduced. Orders are more accurate, the bakery cannot be blamed for mistakes and customer satisfaction is increased leading to better sales.

In turn, wholesale customers get a simpler, clearer way of interacting with the bakery that is more helpful and much less hassle. New customers are attracted by the convenience of online ordering.

Jane Tyler, managing director of RedBlack Software, says: “Cybake Inbound allows us to help our customers and, in turn, their customers, take proper advantage of what is, after all, standard e-commerce technology in our day-to-day lives.

Tyler, who is also the vice chairman of the British Society of Baking, says that in recent years, she has seen more web-savvy bakers develop their own bespoke online ordering systems.

She says: “For many wholesale craft bakeries, the experience of setting up their own online ordering systems has been daunting, expensive and frustrating. We are stepping in with a simple solution that we can deliver at a low cost with of our use of the cloud.”

A medium-sized wholesale craft baker has anywhere between 100 and 200 customers and over 100 product lines. Very many bakers take the majority of their orders over the phone from incoming calls or make outgoing calls to ring round their customers. Often, it is a mixture of both and while many firms take orders by email, a heavy reliance on fax is not uncommon.

Misunderstandings arise from all of these methods. Orders then have to be manually entered into the bakers’ system. This leads to further errors that result in returns, unfulfilled deliveries and account queries, all of which takes up valuable back office resources.

With Cybake Inbound, customers make their orders online without the need for bakery staff to take them. Contact with the customer can now concentrate on servicing their account more efficiently in terms of explaining new products or promotions, resulting in better sales and stronger relationships.

While Cybake Inbound is a cloud-based web ordering system that works as a standalone application, it has been specifically designed to work seamlessly with RedBlack Software’s flagship Cybake bakery management system.

Cybake Inbound takes customers’ web orders and then updates Cybake itself with the data. This automatically generates the bakery’s production schedule as well as invoices, delivery notes and labels.

For non-Cybake users, Cybake Inbound easily exports its data to any other bakery management or ERP system.

Cybake Inbound is available now from RedBlack Software as a cloud service with a monthly subscription for fast ROI. Customers that sign up for Cybake Inbound before the end of July, 2017, will receive a 15% discount.

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